IBPS SO IT Officer Interview Experience: Neelabh Srivastava

I reached the venue at 8:15. The document verification went smooth and I was the first one from my panel to be interviewed. There were 5 members in the panel, one female and five male members. When the bell rang, I pushed the door open and asked for permission. Upon entering I wished all of them a good morning. All the members acknowledged in unison, and asked me to sit comfortably and relax. They all were smiling.

 

M1: Waise to hum sab kuch jaante hi hain, par phir bhi, aap aapke muh se sunna chaahte hain; kuch bataiye apne baare me. (Although we already know everything about you, we would like to hear it in your words; tell us something about yourself.)

Me: I told my name, from where I belong, from where and in which stream I have completed my graduation, and I was about to tell him about my high-school and intermediate education but M1 interrupted me. 

 

M1: Nahin, nahin. High-school wagairah ke baaare me bataane ki zarurat nahin hai. Aap apni family ke baare me kuch bata rhe the? Aapke father kya karte hain? (No, no. There is no need for mentioning High-school etc., you were saying something about your family? What does your father do?)
Me: He works in Indian Audit and Accounts Department.

M1: Acha, acha! Aap to Allahabad se hain na? Wo wahin AG Office me honge phir? (Oh! You are from Allahabad? So, He must be working at the AG Office there?)

Me: Yes sir.

 

M1: Okay. (Then he pointed towards the man sitting to his farthest right.)

 

M4: So, Neelabh, what was your favourite subjects in B.Tech?

Me: Sir, Operating Systems and Computer Networking.

 

M4: Oh OS, interesting! So, do you know about UNIX?
Me: Yes sir, it is an operating system but I have never worked on it.

M4: No, no, that is not important (that you have worked on it or not). I mean is there a difference between UNIX and the OSs we see and use nowadays?
Me: Told him about multi-user and multi-processor supported OSs of nowadays and security features of UNIX.

M4: Yes, but I think that all multi-user OSs originated from UNIX itself, but anyway. What do you understand by the term 'cyber crime'? When did it start to become a real threat?
Me: Explained the term and told him that cyber crime became a real threat with the advent and popularization of the Internet.

 

M4: Elaborate "Social Engineering"? (As I had used the term in my previous answer.)
Me: Explained.

 

M4: But do you really think that Social Engineering is a cyber crime. I would like to think that it is rather...
Me: Our own fault. (I completed his sentence)

M4: Yes, exactly (smiling). So, name a few more terms related to cyber crime.
Me: Hacking, cracking, spam, phishing.

 

M4: Do you know about 'wishing'?
Me: No sir, haven't heard the term in the field of cyber-security.

M4: But isn't it self-explanatory? (smiling) Wishing means to pretend to be a well-wisher of someone and stealing his vital-information.

Me: I thanked him for the information. (Honestly I still don't think that there exists such a term and he was just playing mind-games :P)

 

M4: Have you heard about ethnic hacking?
Me: Ethical hacking, sir?

M4: Yes, yes, the same (smiling).
Me: Explained.

M4: So, would you mind if we appoint you as an Ethical Hacker, can you handle it?
Me: As I began to answer, the female member of the panel joined in and we both told M4 smilingly that it won't be possible as Ethical Hacking is an especialized field and requires professional certification.

 

M4: Okay, okay. So do you know any incidents related to a cyber-security breach?
Me: I told him about the JP Morgan cyber-attack case. (He looked slightly impressed and started taking some notes.)

M3: Any such cases in India?

Me: Told him about the SBI and HDFC debit cards' security breach that had recently happened. He nodded in affirmation.

 

M3: What is the biggest challenge in front of banks today?

Me: Rising NPAs.

M3: So, when did the concept of NPAs was introduced in India?

Me: Sorry sir, I don't know that. (He pointed to M2)

M2: You have completed your graduation in 2015. So what have you done till now?

Me: Preparing for the bank examinations.

 

M2: No campus placement?

Me: No sir, I was always attracted to the public sector.

M2: Why?
Me: My family members and close relatives, including my father, are all working in public sector, so I have always been attracted to the same.

 

M2: But heading into the IT-sector, you would have known that most of the opportunities you get, would be from the private sector. Don't you think that your engineering degree got wasted?
Me: No sir, I don't think so. I had done graduation for the sake of knowledge, as I have always had interest in Computer Science. The choice of pursuing B.Tech, was not career-oriented. (He nodded and pointed towards the female member.)

 

F1: So, Neelabh, aur koi exam diya iske alaawa? (Have you given any other exam other than this)?
Me: Yes ma'am, IBPS PO.

F1: Wahan bhi interview diya? (Have you given interview there too?)

Me: No ma'am. Actually... (interrupted)

F1: Aur koi exam de rhe ho bank ke alawa like SSC or UPSC? (Are you pursuing any other field other than bank like SSC or UPSC?) 

Me: No ma'am, focusing only on banking examinations. (She nodded)

 

M1: Thank you, Neelabh and all the best.

 

With this, everyone else smiled and wished me all the best and I thanked everyone and got out of the room.

 

This was my first ever such interview experience. I was very tense and nervous leading to it but and I got to admit that I enjoyed the experience in the end. The panel was very cordial and it was kind of fun talking to them; now fingers crossed for the final result. In the end I would like to extend my heartily wishes to all of you for your future endeavors.